in this region. >> reporter: this has allies and enemies back at home in full spin mode. >> i'm sure governor romney was talking about was the israeli economy has grown and prospered in a dramatic fashion. >> and it is clear that there are some people who have taken a look at those comments and are scratching their heads a bit. >> reporter: mitt romney's foreign tour, making headlines, but not the ones his campaign had hoped for. romney made his remarks at a $1 million fund-raiser, not clear whether they might cost him at home. lynn. >> brian mooar, thank you so much. president obama back to the white house today after a trip to the big apple. he went to new york city for a fund-raiser at a midtown hotel, closed to the media. 60 donors attended, contributing $40,000 each for a total of more than $20 million for the 2012 election. his campaign is being outspent by republicans, mostly on

negative advertising. for the first time, democratic party will include support for gay marriage in its official platform. delegates at the democratic party convention in charlotte, north carolina, in september, will formally approve the platform. it's unclear if the platform language will call for national action to legalize same-sex marriage. you probably remember in may, president obama said he personally supports gay marriage, but considers it a state issue, not a federal matter. now to colorado, where the suspect in the july 20th movie theater massacre that left 12 dead and wounded dozens more, back in court monday to face formal charges. the hearing didn't take long. but provided some insight into how prosecutors plan to move forward with this case. nbc's jay gray has details. >> reporter: the red dye in his hair looks to be growing out and james holmes more alert and responsive as he listened to the

official charges read alone. 24 counts of first degree murder for the 12 killed, 116 attempted first degree murder charges for the 58 injured. two counts for each victim. one charge included murder with deliberation. the other, cited murder with extreme indifference to the value of human life. lives like verran ka moser, the 6-year-old killed during the massacre. and his mother was paralyzed and suffered a miscarriage after the attack. >> it was important to come to see him today as who he was. there was a lot of anger. >> reporter: dozens of family members and several survivors drawn to the courtroom. >> when we've seen him before, he looked like he was spaced out or out of touch. he looked very, very alert today. and very loose i had as ucid ab going on.

>> reporter: much different than his first appearance, when he was seemed dazed and disengaged. he spoke for the first time publicly during the brief proceeding. asking yes, when asked if he wanted to waive his right to a preliminary hearing within 30 days. during that time, the defense will raise it's only defense that most think he has, an insanity defense. >> he looked very sane to me. >> reporter: his fate could ultimately hinge on how court-appointed doctors evaluate holmes in this emotional, high-profile case. jay gray, nbc news, centennial, colorado. national weather. let's check in with nbc meteorologist bill karins. good morning, bill. >> sad? last day of july? >> it's strange. after 4th of july, summer is almost over. >> it's ending soon.

some probably want it to end, it's been so hot. this morning, tracking storms, bigger story today. strong thunderstorms rolling through southern portions of the grate lakes, waking many up it this morning from detroit to chicago. a strong line. haven't had too many bad reports of weather with it. just gusty winds, definitely a lot of lightning and i'm sure a lot of people woken up by thunder. chicago, dry south of you. dry for your morning commute. gary, indiana, that's where storms are right now. and even detroit. not quite as strong of a line. but definitely pulse of storms moving through the detroit area. you'll hear thunder over the next half hour or so and this is gone by the morning commute. light rain behind it that you may have to deal with. the other spot had a stormy morning, all of the state of alabama, down from birmingham to montgomery, one cluster over the top, headed for montgomery, and a one-two punch, flash flooding threat through many areas of central alabama. let's talk about the headlight. day after day, and yesterday

another head shaker. 111 degrees in little rock, arkansas, yesterday. oklahoma city, 107. many areas from texas to arkansas, southern missouri and kansas, we'll do it all over again. some areas shot once again of hitting 110 degrees. and oklahoma city's forecast, look at this, lynn, 108 through thursday and we cool it off to 100 on saturday. >> that's like an arizona forecast. >> easily. hot arizona forecast. >> all right, bill. thanks so much. stocks finish flat, hsbc takes another hit and the end of a rhode island institution. the first look at this morning's business headlines is straight ahead. ichiro hits the century mark, and the angels pull the old switcher yo on the rangers. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. ♪ the one and only, cheerios

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welcome back to "first look." i'm lynn berry.

here are top stories making news this morning. top syrian diplomat at the embassy in london has decided to defect because of the bloody battle for aleppo. attacks have been stepped up with tanks and air strikes. a massive blackout hit norther northern india today. the outage came a day after india's northern power grid collapsed for several hours, leaving cities and villages across eight states powerless. the arizona state law ban abortion at 20 weeks of pregnancy has been upheld by a federal appeals judge, but the decision may be appealed. the law, due to take effect thursday, is constitutional, because it does not prohibit women from choosing to end their pregnanci pregnancicies. five people injured and ten

homes damaged in oklahoma due to grass fires. people were allowed to return to their homes. england's duchess of cambridge flying solo at a charity reception at the royal academy of arts on monday, part of kate's role as an ambassador, using the games to showcase art and creativity. and in china, this is remarkable. a woman is being praised as a hero for her fast reaction when a truck tipped over on her side, pushed her husband out of the way of the falling truck and quickly pulled her child to safety. now here is your first look at this morning's dish of cram belled politics. the husband of nikki haley is deploying to afghanistan. michael haley, full-time technician with the national guard and lieutenant received

ordered yesterday and is expected to leave for afghanistan in january for a one-year tour. surprise in ohio as "columbus dispatch" reports that republican congressman steven latourette won't run for re-election. this was over a dispute over future house committee assignments. nbc news reports minnesota congresswoman michele bachmann being sued by a former staffer. the iowa woman claims emotional distress and a damaged reputation in a dispute over the use of a list of thousands of home school families for campaign e-mails. senate republican leaders mitch mcconnell says the gop has a 50/50 chance of taking control in the november election, and the kentucky senator says the same thing about the outcome of the presidential race. quote "50/50." according to "the new york

times," an an southeaancestry.c believes he is the relative of a slave. and a "vanity fair" poll shows that only 60% of americans don't know how many are on the supreme court. that's your morning dish of scrambled politics. last night on politics nation, democratic congressman jim mcdermott talked about the gop please plan to change medicare, by turning it into a voucher program. he told al sharpton, in his view, republicans ms. represeis the plan to the american people. >> it's misleading in the worst way. they are simply not bothered by the truth.

the numbers you have given are the absolute correct ones. they continue to say whatever they think will convince people to vote for them, and they give this blanket, we're not going to hurt anybody. nonsense. they are intending to shift the cost onto seniors and their families, and not make it a national issue, but make it your individual responsibility again, like it was before medicare in 1965. it is awful what they plan to do if they get re-elected. >> lean forward with the reverend al sharpton and "politics nation." a first look at how wall street will kick off the day. dow kicks off 13,073. s & p down a fraction, nasdaq dipped 12. in tokyo, the nikkei gained 59

points, in hong kong, the hang seng shot up 211. and investors keep an eye on europe. treasury secretary tim thooetner met with mario draghi on monday, and they hope for a course of action to support the euro after thursday's ecb meeting. on the street, a regional manufacturing report came in much weaker than expected, but fresh 52-week highs from walmart and at&t kept things in check. and supervalu shot up on word that its ceo is out. and chicago bridge & iron is buying shaw group up 55%. medical equipment maker roper industries paying $1.4 billion for sun quest. the ceo of europe's biggest bank

apologized for a shameful and embarrassing lack of controls, which is costing hsbc billions in fines for alleged money laundering by drug cartels and terrorists. elsewhere, apple stock climbed nearly 2% as a jury was selected in its high-stakes battle with samsung. and a launch date for a new apple product is september 12th. speculation strong for the iphone 5, and also buzz for a mini ipad. and a fond farewell for an enduring business, gray's, the longest operating general store in america has closed up shop after 224 years in business. that's a shame. a yankee takes care of two milestones in one swing, plus, angels switch hitter kendry morales joins an elite group in

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welcome back. i'm lynn berry in sports, last night morales broke out in a big way. and another home run last night, but morales stole the show.

angels and rangers tied 3-3. a two-run shot from the left side of the plate. angels up 5-3. then with the sacks full, morales, another home run, this time from the right side. the third player in baseball history to hit two homers in an inning from each side of the plate. angels go on to rout the angels 15-8. a couple of guys that have an opinion on almost everything. donald trump and bill o'reilly. wonder when they think of the yanks acquiring ichiro. 100th career home run and first as a member of the bronx bombers. unfortunately, not enough. orioles win 5-4. red sox with an opportunity to make up a game on the yanks and they take advantage of it. mr. laser show, justin pedroia, the league in the sixth. red sox beat the tigers 7-3. and the cubs expected to make moves before today's trading

deadline, rumors doing the cu y cubbies well, bestball of the season. 14 runs on the pirates. win big 14-4 and won five of the last seven. alex rios with a blast to center. high, deep, not deep enough. denard span out of nowhere to make the catch at the wall. fast forward to the ninth. game tied 6-6. two on for jamie carroll. he needs to hit a sac fly. that's just what he does. incomes in the winning run. twinkies off with a 7-6 win. that's your first look at sports. i'm mario sol heis. now another check of the weather with bill karins. >> good morning. getting the fill of the olympics? >> oh, yeah constant feed. >> i knew that would be a short conversation. good morning, everyone. watching clouds this morning. even showers have popped up in coastal areas. ocean city, maryland, may be one of the areas.

not the best area, showers around and clouds. today, more clouds hugging coastal sections from carolina to virginia, right up through the mid-atlantic, not bad in new england today. scattered storms late today. buffalo through pittsburgh, thunderstorms this morning we're tracking through detroit. through northern indiana. indiana needs rainfall, we'll take that. highest temperatures today. been advertising, the hottest portion of the summer, oklahoma to dallas to little rock. west coast, warm in the inner mountain west. cool on areas on the west coast. >> that's considered cool for them. bill, thank you so much. coming up, jackson family feud gets uglier, plus, if paul mccartney had to depend on his olympics paycheck, he would probably be living on penny lane. first look at entertainment is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. mornings are a special time for the two of you...

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welcome back to "first look." time for a little entertainment news. the jackson family melt count continues. >> and there's more? >> there will be more for a while, bill. you just sit tight. michael jackson's estate has limited access to the home shared by the singer's mother and children in the wake of the feud that has turned into a driveway argument last week. and so it goes on. and on. we'll have more tomorrow. >> the whole -- >> peter jackson has announced his film adaptation of "the hobbit" will be split into three movies instead of the two originally planned due to the richness of the story. a good quay of putting.

and according to "people," an article claiming an affair between kristin sanders and director rupert began a year ago is false and completely fabricated. don't spend it all in one place, paul. former beatle paul mccartney receiveded a mere pound, or $ $1.57 for his performance during the opening ceremonies in the olympics. >> i heard yesterday that budget for the london olympics was half of beijing. >> don't be choosey. i'm lynn berry, this is "first look." "way too early" is next. mitt romney continues to

stumble his way across the globe. this time drawing the anger of the palestinians, who are calling his most recent comments "racist. "the question, has this foreign trip done romney's candidacy more harm than good? syria's top diplomat in london defects, taking a shot at the asass regime out the door and nearly 200,000 flee syria's largest city as fighting between government forces and rebels hit an all-time high. finally, morrow olympic gold for the united states. matt grevers and missy franklin dominate in the pool. can michael phelps and ryan lochte reclaim dominance after a few disappointing races? it's "way too early" for this.

good morning. i'm mike barnicle, this is "way too elderly," the show that just finished doing laps at the senior center down the street. glad you're joining us. as always, let us know why are you awake, shoot an e-mail at waytooearly@msnbc.com o or @williegeist. or text the word awake followed by your response to 692639. and we'll read the best responses later in the show. but before we get to the news here at 30 rock, i want to bring in willie live from london, where he's been on a worldwide boondoggle, waist wasting comcast money for several days now. willie, what are you doing over there? what's going on?

>> raining over here. shouldn't come as a surprise. 60-something degrees and rain, london weather. a couple of big gold medals in the pool, but a little controversy. u.s. women's soccer team plays today, and the star goalie, hope solo, a lot of people know has been in a twitter feud with brandi chastain, great player from the 2002 world cup. they have been fighting publicly ahead of the game today. it's getting interesting. we'll tell you about it. >> quick question. is that your camel hair jacket, or are you breaking that in for someone. where did you get that thing? >> just a rain you slicker, mike. might be able to use it when you go down to the senior center. you should start doping in the pool if you are coming in last. i have some stuff i could give you. >> we'll be back with you in a few minutes. in the news, mitt romney ends his